“Turn the world on its side and everything loose
will end up in Los Angeles.” ~Frank Lloyd Wright.
As you stand at the entrance to Frank Lloyd
Wright’s Hollyhock House located in Barnsdall Art Park, the Hollywood sign and
Griffith Observatory peer down from the hills. They are iconic images of the
City of Angels, but so too is Wright’s recently restored residential masterwork.
After $4.4 million spent over six years, Hollyhock House, the only Frank Lloyd
Wright property you can visit in Los Angeles, is once again open to the public.
Though many people would prefer it not be known
(including Bill Maher, and probably Wright himself) the house was used in the
1989 film, Cannibal Women in the Avocado
Jungle of Death in which Maher starred alongside Shannon Tweed. The
exterior suggests a Mayan temple (we assume that might reference the “avocado
jungle” but we’re not sure) and though film shoots are no longer allowed, this ‘house-museum’
has garnered respect not only for its renovation and imperious design, but
Hollyhock is now on a tentative list of the first modern architecture
nominations from the United States as a UNESCO world heritage site - and since
there are fewer that 25 UNESCO sites in the entire U.S., that’s a pretty damn
big deal.
A UNESCO nomination would absolutely bring
validation to Los Angeles, which constantly fights against perceptions it is a
cultural wasteland. “We’re not as Philistine as we’re made out to be,” Jeffery
Herr curator for Hollyhock House tells me. Wright’s initial concept included a
residence for owner Aline Barnsdall, a theater, a director’s house, dormitory
for actors, studios for artists, shops and a motion picture theater. Most of
that never materialized, but the residence stands as a promise of what might
have been. Barnsdall, a Pennsylvania oil heiress, wanted to produce theater in
her own venue and she purchased a 36-acre site known as Olive Hill in 1919, and
commissioned Wright to build a theater where she could produce avant-garde
plays. “The house is unconventional, built for an unconventional client,” says
Herr, who toured me through the house on opening day. “It’s disorienting and at
the same time it mystifies people,” he surmised. A long rectangular tunnel
leads you up to the formidable cast concrete doors, which are not at all
welcoming. To your left is a small triangular metal plate, a tiny doorbell dead
center. It seems completely out of place given the cold imposing concrete
structure. But like much of Hollyhock, it is indicative of the playful use of
volume and scale that Wright seemed to find amusing. The hollyhock flower was
Barnsdall’s favorite so Wright crafted an abstract symmetrical block version of
the flower used throughout the exterior and interiors including furnishings. The
cool thing is that the renovation also planted hollyhocks, which were in bloom
the day I visited. It’s no secret that Barnsdall herself barely lived in the
house and when visiting L.A. she most often stayed at the Biltmore rather then
her one-off Mayan temple. Yes, she fired Wright because of cost overruns; yes,
he was difficult - a childish genius of whom you forgave his faults because he
exuded copious inspiration and creativity.
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| The stylized hollyhock motif is used throughout the property |
But restoring an iconic house from a nearly
mythic architect isn’t easy. The restoration was like “detective work,” Herr
says. He had to rely on mangled, faded architectural blueprints and old photos
as clues to what Wright had originally envisioned. The recently completed
restoration allows visitors to experience the house in much of its original handcrafted
elegance. Floors, windows, doors, decorative molding, and long-forgotten paint
colors have been recreated. Gone are the sliding glass doors leading away from
the living room, which were erroneously installed during the 1970s renovation, something
that Wright would have abhorred, and frankly speaking, so too would I. In its
place are the correct wood accordion-folding doors, which add an angled depth
and historical accuracy. Even exposed screw heads reflect the original work in
spite of their seemingly unfinished state. Water intrusion has always been one
of the hallmarks of Wright’s design failures. In this case the hollow clay
tiles covered with stucco that formed the building blocks were not the issue
(unlike the Pasadena Millard House), nor Hollyhock’s flat roof; no, it was 90
years of clogged drains both inside and outside the home that proved to be the
culprit. Water goes where it will and if a drain is clogged, water will
nonetheless find the lowest point it can.
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| The dining room |
Architectural failings aside, the house is a
wonder of design, space, light and shadow, and Art Deco imagery. The bas-relief
fireplace made of cast concrete blocks is the central unifying image, one that
can’t be ignored, though Wright never interpreted its meaning. “It’s a theatrical
statement,” Herr told me, a modernist landscape commanding the living area. Flanked
by oak sofas with verdant green pillows designed to take in the stage, and a
three foot pool at the foot of the fireplace with a skylight above, it ties in
the classic and spiritual four elements: earth, water, fire and air. Yes,
Wright designed all the furniture and you notice the library, living and dining
areas are comprised of very precise angles on his designs including the chairs.
Having sat in several of Wright’s original chairs, I can personally tell you
they were never designed for comfort, but were set pieces for the theatre of
any Wright home: cool looking but not comfy.
It used to be that tours were lead by docents
but Herr has abandoned that formula in favor of “self guided” - allowing people
to spend as much time as they want ambling about the home. Docents are on hand
to answer questions and each room has handheld notes, almost like a theatre program,
that give the specifics of each room. But the advantage of allowing people time
to meander though Hollyhock is that there truly is a sense of discovery.
Perhaps someday the remaining 60% of the house that is still unseen and
unrestored might get its due. For now one of the most creative West Coast
residences is finally accessible in which to bask in the revelation that is
Frank Lloyd Wright. WATCH very cool drone video courtesy of HOUZZ.
“Walk Wright In” tours run Thursday through
Sunday, 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Last admission is 3:15 p.m. Cost: $7 for
adults, $3 for students and seniors. There is free parking. www.barnsdall.org
(NOTE: The original version of this article first appeared in The Hollywood Reporter, March 2015)
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